UFO Festival an out-of-this-world experience

June 24, 2006

Freedom Newspapers

In keeping with the tradition of celebrating UFOs, aliens and mysterious crashes, the city of Roswell will host its 12th annual UFO Festival from Thursday to July 3. Taking a day trip to the nationally known festival could quench anyone’s desire for everything extraterrestrial.

Some history
The festival is known for attracting people from all parts of the world. In the past, Roswell has seen 15,000 to 20,000 tourists over the course of the celebration. Those who follow the “Roswell Incident” believe a UFO crashed in July of 1947 and was covered up by military intelligence officials. The incident has been the basis for a television movie, television series and book series.

Events
Those who partake in the festival will have the chance to attend lectures on topics such as abductions, UFOs and the famous crash itself. There will also be a show at the Goddard Planetarium called “Stonehenge, UFOs and Beyond,” and a play by the Roswell Little Theater called “Jocelyn’s World.”
Other events scheduled to take place are an alien costume contest, a light parade and a street dance and concerts by Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, Mark Chesnutt and Tejano artist Michael Salgado.
Vendors and booths will be set up along Main Street.
Food vendors will be located in the Roswell UFO Museum parking lot. All vendors will open at 10 a.m. The Roswell UFO Museum will have regular hours. All lectures will be in the museum starting at 5:30 p.m.

Admission
Most of the events for the festival are free. General admission tickets for the concerts are priced at $20 and VIP tickets are $40. Portales residents can purchase these tickets at the Portales National Bank. The lectures, planetarium shows and the plays will all be free to attend.

How to get there
From Portales take U.S. 70 west to Roswell, merging onto U.S. 285 south exit A, into the business district of Roswell. Take Main Street all the way to the festival.